Screen printing device



Oct. 22, 1963 M. PIKE scREEN PRINTING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledSept. 50. 1960 Trae/way S N. w. Y N N a@ J Qu v n, wv s 1 M e l m Q muw. N N Sm. n.1 ww. f 4 l IVN. I l l l Oct. 22, 1963 M. PIKE SCREENPRINTING DEVICE Filed Sept. 30. 1960 NGE,

` Oct. 22, 1963 M, PlKE SCREEN PRINTING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FiledSept. 30, 1960 INVEN TOR. M74 70A/ /Q/,ea BY/f/ Oct. 22, 1963 M. PIKESCREEN PRINTING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 50. 1960 FIG? UnitedStates Patent This invention relates to a device for the manufacture ofscreens such as are employed in the graphic arts for the production ofscreen tints and tones.

Such screens are frequently utilized by mounting them Von flats duringthe process of photographing a picture intended for ultimatereproduction in the form of printed matter whose gray or colored areasare broken up into a finely divided minutely dotted pattern, theconformation of the dots being dependent upon the type of screen usedand the density of the dots determining the shade of gray or colorappearing to the eye of the observer. It has also been suggested thatinstead of mounting the screen upon Hats as aforesaid, the film employedbe preexposed to the screen before taking the desired photograph,thereby producing a similarly patterned resulting picture.

However, with either of these approaches, the screens employed areexpensive and, in many instances, it has been found dinicult to producescreens of large size and uniform pattern.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide adevice for the economical production of such screens or films.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for'theproduction of such screens of large size and uniform patterns.

Another `object of the invention is to provide a device of the characterindicated wherein the screens may be produced in continuous lengths.

`Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the characterindicated wherein improved means are employed for Vthe production ofuniform patterns of such i screens and whereby the risk of distortion ofsuch patterns is minimized.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter indicated which may be employed for the production of positiveor negative imprintations of any desired screen pattern and duplicationsthereof.

.A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter indicated which is adjustable to produce or utilize screens ofdifferent thicknesses.

A yet further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter indicated which is simple in design and easy to operate.

Other and further objects of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following description as read in connectionwith theaccompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

` FIGURE l is a front elevational view of one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a right end view of a portion of the form of the inventionillustrated in FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a left end view of the form of the invention depicted inFIGURE l; A

FIGURE 4 is a view taken about the line 4 4 of FIGURE l and looking inthe direction of the arrows in the vicinity of the ends of said line 44;

FIGURE 5 is a view taken about the line 5 5 of FIG- URE 1 and looking inthedirection of the arrows in the vicinity of the ends of said line 5 5;

FIGURE 6 is a view taken about the line 6 6 of FIG- URE 5 and looking inthe direction of the arrows in the vicinity of the ends of said line 66; and

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary view of the lamp and lamp housing employed inthe said form of the invention.`

3,107,595d Patented oct. 22, 1963 ice As shown" in the drawings, oneembodiment of the rollingelements. A sheet of material such asphotographic lrn or paper is receivable between the rolling elements soas to acquire a screened pattern in the manner hereinafter set forth indetail.

In the form of the invention herein illustrated, suitable driving meanssuch as electric motor 9 may be operatively connected by a shaft 9a to agear reducing unit generally designated by the numeral 1t), said motorbeing mounted upon a horizontal member 9b rigidly secured to a baseplate 39 by a pair of vertical members 9c. The gear reducing unit iscoupled by conventional coupling means 11 to a vertcial shaft 12provided with a pair of gears 13, 14. Each of these gears is retainedwithin a slot defined by a horizontally projecting pair of arms 15, 16.The upper of said pair of arms 15, is formed integrally with a slottedcollar 17 which is secured, as by mounting screws 18 to an end frame 19disposed in the vicinity of the right side of the form of the inventiondepicted in FIGURE 1. A gear 20 mating with one of the aforesaid gears14 is secured, as by a key 21 to a shaft 22 received within said slottedcollar 17, said gear being retained within the collar 17, which, inturn, is secured upon said shaft 22 by a suitable fastening element suchas a hollow cylindrical member 23 retained in tight frictionalengagement with the shaft 22, said cylindrical member 23 being retainedin abutment with the collar 17.

The lower of said pair of arms 16 is similarly formed integrally with aslotted collar 24 which retains a gear 25 secured -upon a shaft 26, asby a key 27, said collar also being secured upon said shaft 26 by ahollow cylindrical member 28 retained in tight frictional engagementwith the shaft 26. i

The gear 20 is rotatable to turn the shaft 22 and a hollow cylinder 29composed of a transparent material, such as glass or a plastic', theshaft 22 being provided with a circular plate 22a secured by a pluralityof screws 22o to a circular cap 31 which functions as a closure of oneend of the hollow cylinder 29, said cap being secured upon the hollowcylinder by la set screw 32 abuttable against said hollowcylinder anddisposed radially in an annular flange 33 provided upon said cap 31.

The gear 25 is rotatable to turn the shaft 26 and the roller 30, whichis mounted thereon. Said roller may advantageously be composed of ayielda-ble material such as rubber.`

The vertical position of the roller 30 and of the gear 13 upon thesplined shaft 12'is adjustable upon rotation shaft 36 in position. 'Theverticalshaft 36, nut 34 and annularly expanded portion 38 of the collar24 are received Within a vertical, elongated slot 40 provided in the endframe 19. The vertical shaft 36 is also provided with a square nut 41received within said elongated slot 40. This squane mit 41 is providedwith a horizontal pointer 42, which is disposed in the vicinity of alinearly graduated vertical scale, generally designated by the numeral43, and marked upon the external periphery of the end frame 19, this`disposition of the pointer being maintained by slidable contact betweenthe square nut 41 and at least one side of the elongated slot 40. i

The scale 43 may be graduated to indicate the vertical position off theroller `30, thereby affording the user of 3. the invention anopportunity for vadvantageous Vdetermi nation of such position Yduringrotational adjustment of the nuts 34, 35.

At the left side portion of the form of the invention illustrated inFIGURE l, thebase plate 39 also supports an end frame 44 havin-g aconformation generally similar to that of end fra-me 1,9 and providedwith a similar elongated slot 45 in which are received a verticalshaft46 provided with a square nut 47 and pointer 48 formed and disposedin a manner similar to that of the corresponding members received in theelongated slot 4i) of the end frame 19. Said vertical shaft 46 is alsoprovided with a pair of knurled nuts 49, S similarly disposed andadjustable in the manner of the nuts 34, 35 upon the vertical shaft 36;and the external periphery of the end frame 44 is provided with alinearly graduatedv vertical scale, generally designated by the numeral51, and similar to the scale 43, said scales and pointers beingvertically aligned to indicate the same elevation upon Veach of saidscales when the roller 30 and shaft 26 are ydisposed in horizontalpositions.

The base plate 39 is supported by a plurality of vertical legs 39awhereby the entire device herein described may be conveniently mountedupon a suitable surface,

The inner `face of the end'frame 44 is provided with a pair ofadjustable members generally Idesignated by the numeral 52. Each of saidadjustable members is provided with a roller 53 rotatable upon a shaft54r provided upon a vertical plate '5. Said plate 55 is provided with ahorizontal adjusting slot 5,6 which Vreceives a screw and washerassembly 57. These screw and washer assemblies 57 are mounted upon aslide bar 58 received 'within a f* horizontalgroove 59,. said slide bar58 also being provided with a pair of screw and washer assemblies v60receivableV within aligned horizontal slots 61 formed in the end frame44. The slide bar 58 and screwA andwasher assemblies 57, 60 permit therollers 53 to be disposed in rollable contact with the hollow cylinder29 and spaced equidistantly rfrom the vertical axis of said cylinder soas to support said cylinder inta horizontal position.

The hollow cylinder 29 is also abuttable against a roller 62 supportedby an arm 63, secured by a screw and washer assembly 64 mounted upon theend `frame 44. Y

The shaft 26 of thejroller 30 is also supported in a collar r65 Ysecuredtothe vertical shaft 46, which -is disposable toa horizontal positionupon rotational adjustment of the nuts 49, ,50, lin cooperationl with asimilarr adjustment of the nuts 34, 35, said roller 30 also beinguniformly urgeable against the hollow cylinder 29 upon said adjustmentof the nuts 34, 35, 49, 50.

The end frames 19-, 44 are also secured in spaced relation whereby theyare substantially parallel to each other by means Vof a pair o`f tubes66, the ends of each of said tubes 66 being threadedly engaged withhexagonal nuts 67 secured in said end frames 19, 44. Each of the tubes66 receives a removable rod 68 which is aixed, as by welding 69, to anupright sleeve 70. These sleeves received a yoke provided with Ya pairof threaded legs 71 and a Icrossabar 72 engaged with the upperextremities of said legs 71. A pair of adjustable nuts 73 isthreadedlyengaged with each of the legs 71 -so as to raise or lower the cross-bar72 as desired, the nuts 73 being lockable in abutment against the upperand lower ends of each of the sleeves 70.

A horizontal, elongated slot 74 is formed in the crossbar 72 and ananchoring stud 75 projects vertically from an adjustable tube 76, thesaid adjustable tube clamp being `secujrable with respect to said yokeupon tightening of a nut 77 so as tourge a washer 78 into abutment withthe lower yface of thecross-*bai 72.

The above-described yoke and split ring function as an accuratelyadjustable ysujgiport for a lamp housing,- gem erally designated by thenumeral 79, which receives a t lamp 80, preferably of the-fluorescenttype.H The lamp,

V83, 34 is provided with a j. of light emitted through housing comprisesa tube 81 provided with a thin slot 82 and a pair of end caps 83, 84.Each of these end caps pair of terminals 85 which receive the electricalplugs 86 provided at the end of the lamp, said terminals alsoV beingprovided with suitable leads S7 connectable to an electric circuitwhereby the lamp may be actuated.

The tube V31 may be received within the adjustable tube clamp andsecured therein upon tightening of the screw S8 in the upper portion ofthe adju-stable clamp, thereby permitting the housing 79 and the lampcontained therein to extend through a circular aperture 44a in the endframe 44- and to be aligned in a horizontal position within the cylinder29.

In this position, the slot 82 will permit a thin beam of light to beemitted therethrough from the lamp titl, said beam beingfdirecteddownwardly towards the line of contact between the hollow cylinder 29and any thin sheetlike member which is yieldably conformable with thetopmost surface of the roller Sil. Such a sheet-like member'ispreferably in the form of a light sensitive photographic nlm or paper,the various portions of said iilm or paper being successively andcontinuously exposable to any portion'of the beam of light permitted toescape through the 30 are rotatably driven by the gears 13, V14 andmotor 9 and the said film Ior paper is fed between said cylinder androller.

To produce a member, ,the invention is employed in `various ways. Thus,the hollow cylinder 29 may have a screen pattern imprinted upon itsperiphery, so that when a photographic lilnr or paper is passed betweensaid cylinder 29 and the roller 3i), said iilm or paper will be exposedto the beam j the thin slot S2 and the screen pattern'on the cylinder.It will be noted that by accomplishing such exposure through the slot82, distortion of said screen pattern, which might otherwise occur ifsuch slot were notY present, is eliminated. Thus, the slot tends tominimize the diffusion of light arising from scattered rellectionswithin the lamp housing 79 and the iirm grip exerted Vupon the lilm orpaperV by the cylinder 29 and roller 30 in the vicinity of the slotaligns said lilm or paper at right angles to the light emitted throughthe slot, thereby eliminating any undesirable distortion of the screenpattern. f y

Instead of imprinting the screen pattern upon the hollow cylinder 29, itmay be enclosed by a photographic Y film bearing such pattern, or byother pattern material such as a metallic grid, said film beingreplaceable by other'films bearing other screen patterns, as desired.When so arranged, the. light sensitive iilm or paper is exposed to thescreen pattern by passing between the roller 3l and theV nlm-enclosedhollow cylinder'29, the light beam being emitted through said slot 82and filmenclosedrcylinder.

With either of these arrangements, it will be noted that thephotographic film or paper may be exposed to a continuous,lundistortedscreen pattern for the entire length of said photographic lilm or paper.

A similar result is also obtainable if a negativelilm bearing a desiredscreen pattern or image is simultaneously rolled with a photographicpaper or tlm between the cylinder 29 and roller 30, so as to impose apositive photographic impression of said screen pattern upon thelast-mentioned photographic paper or ttilm. Here again, the screenpattern is co-extensive with the negative film and the screen patternproduced is continuous and undistorted.

The distance between the cylinder 29 and roller 30 is also adjustable toaccommodate lm screens yof various thicknesses.V Such Yadjustment iseasily accomplished by varying the position of the rollers 53 and 62 toraise or lowerthe cylinder 29. v

thin slot 82'Iwhile the cylinder 29 and roller 'screen pattern upon sucha sheet-likeV aromas It will also be seen that the vertical position ofthe lamp housing 79 is adjustable by means of adjustment of the positionof the yoke, thereby varying the intensity of the light emitted throughthe slot. Moreover, the lamp housing 79 and the lamp 80 containedtherein, as well as the yoke, may be removed from the cylinder 29 bywithdrawing the removable rods 68 from the tubes 66, thereby permittingthe lamp 30 to be replaced, as desired.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated and described hereinabovehas been selected for the purpose of clearly setting forth theprinciples involved. It will be apparent, however, that the presentinvention is susceptible to being modified in respect to details ofconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts which may be resortedto without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention asclaimed.

I claim:

1. An improved screen printing device comprising in combination, ahorizontal base plate supported by a plurality of vertical legs, a pairof upright end frames mounted at opposite sides of said base plate, ahorizontal rubber roller and hollow glass cylinder rotatably mountedbetween said end frames, the said rubber roller being provided with ashaft received within a pair of collars housed in a vertical elongatedslot within each of the end frames, each of said collars being supportedby a vertical member engaged with a pair of adjustable nuts'lockableagainst said base plate to fix the elevation of said roller, the saidhollow glass cylinder being supported by a shaft housed within one ofsaid end frames and a plurality of adjustable rollers secured upon theother of said end frames, the said hollow glass cylinder and rubberroller being rotatable by a pair of gears secured to an upright splinedshaft and engaged with gear means mounted upon the shafts of said hollowglass cylinder and rubber roller, the gear engaged with the gear meansmounted on the shaft of the rubber roller being vertically displaceableupon said upright splined shaft to a position corresponding with theelevation of said rubber roller, the said upright shaft being coupled toa gear reducing unit driven by a motor, the said motor being supportedby a horizontal member secured to said base plate, the said hollow glasscylinder receiving a tubular member housing an elongated lluorescentlamp, the said tubular member being rigidly secured in horizontalposition by a tube clamp and extending through a circular aperture inone of said end. frames, the said tube clamp being adjustably supportedby a yoke provided with a horizontal crossbar and a pair of verticallegs, each of said vertical legs being threadedly engaged with a pair ofadjusting nuts abuttable against the upper and lower ends of an uprightsleeve affixed to a horizontal rod, said horizontal rod being removablyreceived in a tubular member alxed to said end frames, the said tubeclamp being provided with a threaded stud received in a slot of saidcross-bar and provided with fastening means abuttable against saidcross-bar to 'fix the transverse position of said clamp, the saidtubular member housing of said fluorescent lamp being provided with adownwardly disposed vertical slot adjacent to the lower periphery of thehollow glass cylinder whereby a vertical beam of light emanating fromsaid lluorescent lamp is directed toward the upper portion of the rubberroller, the periphery of said hollow glass cylinder being ass'ociable iwith a screen pattern whereby a light sensitive member received betweensaid hollow glass cylinder and rubber roller will be exposed to the saidscreen pattern, the said beam of light passing through the said screenpattern.

2. An improved photographic screen printing device comprising incombination, a base plate, a pair of upright end frames mounted uponsaid base plate, a horizontal roller and a hollow translucentcylinderrotatably mounted between said end frames, means for drivingsaid roller and cylinder, and a source of light disposed within saidcylinder, said source of light being surrounded by a housing provi-dedwith la slot for receiving a beam of light emanating from said source oflight, screen means associated with the wall of said hollow cylinder,said ibeam of light being transmissible through said screen means,whereby a light sensitive medium interposed between said cylinder landroller will be exposed to the pattern of said screen means, said screenmeans comprising a lilrn negative bearing -a screen pattern, said -ilmnegative being rollable between said hollow cylinder and said roller toexpose to said screen pattern a photographic medium associated with saidfilm negative, said housing being vertically movable within said hollowcylinder yand rigidly secured to vertically adjustable means disposedexteriorly of said hollow cylinder, said vertically adjustable meanscomprising a yoke provided with a pair of vertical legs and a cross-barsupporting an 'adjustable clamp, said housing being engaged with saidadjustable clamp, each of said vertical legs Ibeing threadedly engagedwith a pair of nuts abuttable against the ends of an upright sleeve tolock said legs in fixed position, each of the 'upright sleeves beingprovided with la horizontal rod slida'bly received within a tubularmember housed in each of said end frames.

3. An improved photographic screen printing device comprising incombination, a base plate, a pair of upright end frames mounted upon:said base plate, a horizontal roller and a hollow trans-lucent cylinderrotatably mounted between said end frames, means for driving said rollerand cylinder, and a source of light disposed within said cylinder, saidsource or" light being surrounded by a housing provided with a slot forreceiving a beam of light emanating from said source of light, screenmeans associated with the wall of said hollow cylinder, said beam oflight being transmissible through said screen rneans, whereby la lightsensitive medium interposed between said cylinder and roller will beexposed to the pattern of said screen means, said means for driving saidroller and cylinder comprising a motor, Ia gear reducing unit driven bysaid motor `and coupled with an upright shaft, said upright shaft ybeingprovided with a pair of ygears in mesh with a pair of gears secured upontwo horizontal shafts, one of said shafts supporting one end of saidhollow cylinder and the other of said shafts supporting said roller andbeing journalled within a pair of collars vertically movable withinelongated slots provided in sai-d end frames, each of said collars beingsupported by a vertical member threadedly engaged with locking ymeansabuttable against said base plate to tix the elevation of said roller,said vertical member being provided 'with indicator means associatedwith a scale provided upon the 'external periphery of each of said endframes, whereby the elevation of said roller is indicated. f

4. A photographic .screen printing device yaccording to claim 2, one ofsaid end frames also bein-g provided with la pair of rollers securedupon adjustable plates mounted upon a horizontal slide bar, said slidebar being adjustably received with-in a horizontal groove formed in oneof said end frames, the position of said adjustable plates beingvariable to bnng said rollers into supporting contact with said hollowcylinder, said last-mentioned end frame also being provided with -apivotably mounted arm supporting a third roller contactable with theupper external periphery of said hollow cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,744,323 Mayer Jan. 2l, 1930 1,919,482 Rowell July 25, 1933 2,220,526Kluitmann Nov. 5, 1940 2,282,337 Mies May 12, 1942 2,427,443 CochranSept. 16, 1947 2,783,697 AEisner Mar. 5, 1957 2,991,705 Bryan July11,1961

2. AN IMPROVE PHOTOGRAPHIC SCREEN PRINTING DEVICE COMPRISING INCOMBINATION, A BASE PLATE, A PAIR OF UPRIGHT END FRAMES MOUNTED UPONSAID BASE PLATE, A HORIZONTAL ROLLER AND A HOLLOW TRANSLUCENT CYLINDERROTATABLY MOUNTED BETWEEN SAID END FRAMES, MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID ROLLERAND CYLINDER, AND A SOURCE OF LIGHT DISPOSED WITHIN SAID CYLINDER, SAIDSOURCE OF LIGHT BEING SURROUNDED BY A HOUSING PROVIDED WITH A SLOT FORRECEIVING A BEAM OF LIGHT EMANATING FROM SAID SOURCE OF LIGHT, SCREENMEANS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WALL OF SAID HOLLOW CYLINDER, SAID BEAM OFLIGHT BEING TRANSMISSIBLE THROUGH SAID SCREEN MEANS, WHEREBY A LIGHTSENSITIVE MEDIUM INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID CYLINDER AND ROLLER WILL BEEXPOSED TO THE PATTERN OF SAID SCREEN MEANS, SAID SCREN MEANS COMPRISINGA FILM NEGATIVE BEARING A SCREEN PATTERN, SAID FILM NEGATIVE BEINGROLLABLE BE-